NONE OF THE ABOVE

by MONITOR
IT is disappointing that the British government seems determined to ignore the advice it receives from the independent Electoral Commission about postal voting. There were disgraceful frauds in Birmingham and elsewhere at the last election and some of those responsible have been tried and punished. However the basic reason for such frauds, that registration is by household rather than by the individual, has not been addressed in the new Electoral Administration Bill. Instead household registration remains but with new pilot schemes at which increased security systems will be tried out. This is pointless. The main argument for postal voting is that it increases the proportion of voters who participate in an election and therefore it should be seen as a counter to the growth of apathy which leads to disappointingly low turn-outs. There is, of course, another possible approach, compulsory voting, which found support recently from a surprising source, namely Geoff Hoon MP who is now Leader of the House of Commons. He has been on a visit to Australia where compulsory voting has been the practice for many years and he has said that he sees many advantages to it. During his long years as Secretary of State for Defence Mr Hoon never seemed to be an innovator but perhaps his new job has changed him. The objection to compulsory voting is that it infriges on an individual's right to distance himself from the political process; there is something in this, although it overlooks the fact that every citizen to some extent benefits from or is subject to the government of the day and should therefore not be allowed to opt-out of his or her voting responsibilities. But this objection is somewhat taken care of if, as in Australia, anyone can write “none of the above” in the privacy of the polling booth. PP Whatever method of voting is used, politicans have to face the fact that they are principally responsible for the electorate's apathy. If government is conducted in a way that leaves the average voter feeling that nothing they say or do will really affect the way ministers act, then apathy is inevitable.